Page 26 of Forever Only Once

Chapter 6

Cross

I loweredmy head and focused on the work in front of me, the bass from the speakers I had mounted to the wall thrumming in my ears. It let me concentrate, push out the rest of the world so I could work on what was in front of me, rather than what others needed from me.

I slid my fingers over the wood and then used my sander with the other hand, working on one of the arches for the bottom grooves. I was getting down to the nitty-gritty, the design parts that were beyond the engineering, beyond function, only for the aesthetics. The parts that called to the uniqueness, sometimes in subtle ways. That was the part I liked.

That was a lie.

I liked both parts. I loved every single aspect of my job, even the taxes and the paperwork and dealing with clients.

That was another lie, I didn’t like the taxes, but I didn’t mind doing them. Because that meant I had money in the bank and had to show the government that I was making something of myself.

I shook my head and went back to my project. I would probably have this part finished today, and after a few more days, I could get back to the final nit-picky parts, the polish. And then the clients could pick up the table and chairs.

It sounded like a lot of work, and probably more than some would want for a dining room set, but I’d fallen in love with woodworking when I was younger, and now it was a passion that had somehow become my career. The pieces I made weren’t for everyone, and many of the crafts I worked on weren’t high-end. The more highly detailed projects that took longer and went for a higher price supplemented some of my other smaller projects.

I hummed along to the music, getting into my work. Now, I could be an artist, a craftsman. That was something Arden would call me, not something I usually called myself. The more I thought about it, however, the more I didn’t mind the term. I was getting better at realizing who I was, even if that idea seemed to change some days.

I got to a stopping point and went back over my work to see if there was anything I needed to touch up before I called it a night. I wanted to get back to my place since my brothers were heading over soon for beers and dinner. I didn’t want to be the last one there, considering it was my house.

I’d invited Arden, but she had a girls’ night scheduled with her sisters-in-law, so I let her be. I loved that she had another support system now, but I still wanted to be all big brother and wrap her in cotton wool.

It was hard not to be a little overbearing when her husband was out of town. All I wanted to do was make sure that she was doing well and continuously check up on her.

I put away my tools, cleaned up my station, turned off the music, and rolled my shoulders back as I headed out to the central area of the building. Chris was there, texting furiously. My guard instantly went up.

I didn’t want to deal with him. I had been doing a decent job of ignoring him for the past couple of days, but that wasn’t the best thing. After all, we still had to talk about exactly what we were doing with this business. And he had been avoiding me, just like I had been avoiding him.

Chris looked up from his phone before I had a chance to think about what I was going to say.

“Oh. Good. You’re done. I was just heading out, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I was just on my way out, too. Is there something you wanted?” I asked. I wasn’t in the mood to figure out what to do with Chris, and I actually had somewhere to be. Things had quieted down since I’d told him we needed to talk. I didn’t think that everything would get better overnight, though. I really did need to either dissolve the partnership or find a better solution. Still, for now, he was acting as if everything was at least marginally on the level. And he wasn’t annoying me that much.

The fact that that was my hard limit should worry me.

“Oh. Anything fun tonight?” he asked. I wasn’t sure if he was actually interested.

When had we come to this? Chris used to be my friend. I had irrevocably tied my business and future to this man, and yet I didn’t seem to know him anymore. Had I changed? Or had he?

Maybe it was the mixture of the two that had ruined it. “Just hanging out with my brothers.”

Chris smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He didn’t get along with my brothers. Mostly because Chris always tried to make sure they knew that he made good money. My brothers did well for themselves, too. But it was never good enough for Chris. Seriously, I needed to fix this. However, tonight wasn’t the time to do it.

“Ah. Well then, have fun. I have a meeting with that client. You know? Cassidy?”

No, I didn’t know her, but that was the point. Wasn’t it? “Going to 59th?”

“Yes, that’s the plan, at least at first. We’ll see where it leads.”

My brows rose. “She’s your client. You’ll see where what leads?”

He waved his hand at me. “You know I don’t mix business with pleasure.” He winked.

That was a lie.

“Anyway, I have things to do, and I’m sure you do, too. From the music, it sounded like you were really into it. Would you mind showing me what you’re working on?”